Chapter 145: Northern Plains Battlefield

Several days later, Jiuyou crossed the border of Ganzhou and plunged straight into the heart of the Northern Plains.

At first, he could still see rolling mountain ranges, which gradually gave way to low hills and river valleys. Pushing further north brought him to an endless expanse of grassland. The sky hung low, the plains stretched wide, and green waves rippled beneath his feet as if they had no end. For a brief moment, it reminded him of the foot of Tianyuan Mountain back then, though this grassland was vastly larger.

The ambient spiritual qi was considerably thinner as well.

Jiuyou furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping across the empty world. Getting his bearings was no problem, but he had no idea where Nine Sun Mountain was.

He had been too hasty when he devoured that Northern Plains Nascent Soul cultivator. By now, the man's soul had long lost its mind within the Nether Capital Gate, making it impossible to interrogate him further.

Fortunately, Dong Yanwei had mentioned that Nine Sun Mountain was in the heart of the Northern Plains. As long as he kept going deeper, he would eventually run into Northern Plains cultivators. Finding the place would then just take a few questions.

He stopped thinking about it, pushed his escape light, and continued speeding north.

A few thousand li later, a winding river beneath him began to take on a strange color. The once-clear water grew murky and red, floating with shredded cloth and severed limbs that drifted slowly downstream.

Jiuyou's gaze paused, and he looked up.

Hundreds of li ahead, at the edge of the horizon, a layer of blood-red faintly shrouded the sky.

Shouts of killing drifted over on the wind, intermittent, like fragments scattered by the gusts.

"Kill!"

"Die, you Northern Plains dogs!"

"Damn Ganzhou bastards, why do you get the good land..."

The voices mixed together, impossible to hear clearly, but the aura of clashing weapons could be smelled from a great distance. That blood-shrouded area was the true border between Ganzhou and the Northern Plains. Cultivators from both sides had slaughtered each other on this battlefield for thousands of years, year after year, never truly stopping.

Most Northern Plains cultivators were famous for body refinement, having fierce customs and incredibly tough physical bodies. The strangely robed burly man he had encountered at the Dong Family had been a rare spell cultivator, which was actually an anomaly. And on battlefields like this, most combatants were simply from minor tribes.

On the Ganzhou side, it was mostly small and mid-sized sects sending disciples in rotations. Major sects rarely put in much effort, and even if their people did come, they were mostly just going through the motions.

Jiuyou watched from afar for a while, his expression neutral. He had lived for over a thousand years and seen plenty of this sort of thing.

This battlefield had never existed to determine a victor. Its meaning was simply to keep existing.

For the major powers of Ganzhou, it could divert the resentment of low-level cultivators while taking the opportunity to whittle down the strength of the small and mid-sized sects they couldn't control.

As for the Northern Plains side, they could only rely on this method to feed lives into it. Even knowing they couldn't win, they still couldn't stop fighting.

Jiuyou withdrew his gaze, neither stopping nor detouring. He simply pulled his escape light a bit higher and swept past the edge of the battlefield. The wind surged up from below, wrapped in the stench of blood and dust, and battered against the hem of his robe.

He glanced down, then turned his eyes further north. Nine Sun Mountain was still far off; there was no need to delay over these matters.

...

Over a thousand li away from the Northern Plains Battlefield, dozens of white tents built from the massive skeletons of demonic beasts were scattered across the grassland, standing out starkly amid the sprawling green.

This was a rear command outpost for the Northern Plains people. Usually, only a single Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator stood guard here, stationed alongside several thousand low-level cultivators, mostly conscripted from nearby tribes.

Waves of raucous noise spilled out from the largest tent in the center.

"Hahaha, I got sick of playing with our Northern Plains women a long time ago. Ganzhou female cultivators have much more flavor."

A robust, dark-skinned burly man sat imposingly in the main seat, his arms wrapped around two slender female cultivators whose clothes indicated they had been pillaged from Ganzhou. As he laughed and joked, he slammed his wine bowl heavily onto the table.

Sitting on the other side was a young man wearing a blood-red Daoist robe, a faint half-smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

He glanced at the burly man, his tone calm: "As long as Grandmaster Huang is pleased. If the Grandmaster is willing, my Blood Abyss Sect can deliver however many of these beauties you want. As for other cultivation resources, we will absolutely not be stingy either."

The burly man burst into rough laughter, but he didn't dare be too unbridled. Even though he was the commanding general here, he still harbored some apprehension toward the envoy from the Blood Abyss Sect. "Elder Ding is too polite. I wonder how the Great Elder of your noble sect has been recently?"

"Very well." The cultivator surnamed Ding picked up his wine bowl and took a sip. "I have come this time on the orders of the Great Elder. He hopes the Grandmaster can pull more manpower from those small tribes to feed the battlefield. The more people die, the more comfortably the Grandmaster can accept that medicinal pill."

The burly man licked his lips, a flash of greed crossing his eyes. "Easy to arrange. When the time comes, I hope Elder Ding will put in some good words for me in front of the Great Elder."

"Naturally."

The two of them clinked another bowl of wine.

Just then, frantic footsteps hurried outside the tent. A sentry rushed in, panic written all over his face: "Grandmaster Huang! Bad news! Something has happened!"

The burly man frowned and put down his wine bowl. "What are you panicking for? Can't you see this grandmaster is entertaining an honored guest?"

The sentry broke out in a cold sweat from fright and hurriedly lowered his head. "It's someone from Ganzhou! A Ganzhou Nascent Soul is charging straight this way!"

The burly man glanced at the cultivator surnamed Ding beside him. The latter gave an imperceptible shake of his head, signaling that he knew nothing about it.

"Hmph, what nerve." The burly man stood up and glanced at Elder Ding. "Elder Ding, come out with me to take a look. I'll deal with this matter afterward."

The cultivator surnamed Ding was displeased, but it was hard to refuse. He gave a slight nod and stood up to follow.

Before the two could step out the tent door, a heavy pressure crashed down on them like a collapsing mountain. The entire tent collapsed with a boom. Those maids and guards with low cultivation bases were crushed into mists of blood by the pressure before they could even scream.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators rushed out the instant before the tent collapsed, hovering in midair.

But before they could even steady their footing, their faces were already filled with terror. That pressure had still not dissipated; it pressed down heavily upon their heads, as if the firmament itself were looking down at them.

"Nascent Soul Late Stage..."

The burly man's voice was dry, as if squeezed from his throat.

Before the words faded, a streak of blood-red light wrapped in golden radiance pierced through the air, so fast that even Divine Sense couldn't lock onto it. The head of the cultivator surnamed Ding was sent flying, and his corpse swayed before plunging from the sky. That cluster of blood light circled his Nascent Soul, wrapped around it, and then all presence vanished.

The burly man turned his head to run, but the moment his feet moved, he caught sight of a pair of cyan eyes in his peripheral vision. Those eyes were very close, close enough to see his own face reflected within them.

Jiuyou stood beside him, looking as though he had already been standing there for a long time.